I'm very pleased with the results of a little restoration project I just completed on a frying pan I found amid some of my dad's junk. It is a beautiful older Le Creuset omelet pan from the days before they coated the cast iron with enamel. It had a nasty burned-on mess in it that defied all my efforts at scrubbing, in spite of the pride I take in my ability to solve such problems with elbow grease. Knowing there are people out there who have restored cast iron in far rougher shape than this, I took to the Google, and learned spray on oven cleaner can help in such situations, and sure enough, a couple of applications got me down to basically bare metal. It was then a simple matter to unscrew the wooden handle, which I worked on cleaning up while the cast iron re-seasoned in the oven. I now have an as good as new omelet pan for my effort, or arguably better than new, since the non-stick properties of cast iron cookware improve with the addition of a little patina, and this pan seems to fall into the category of "they don't make them like that anymore."

Mr. Tact wrote on Aug 24, 2012, 23:02:Worse, as others have said, stripping Armstrong of his Tour titles is meaningless. Several of the second place finishers have already admitted doping. While there might have been a few cyclists not doping, I guarantee none of them finished in the top 20 in the Tour in the last 20 years. So, what does going after Armstrong, a retired cyclist, accomplish? Not much.

I said that very poorly. What I meant was this:

If you believe Armstrong doped, despite never testing positive in all his hundreds of tests. Then why wouldn't you think that everyone who finished in the top 20 every year for the last 20 years doped? Certainly many of them have been caught or admitted to doping. And if you think everyone was doping, then what purpose is served by stripping Armstrong of his wins?

Creston wrote on Aug 24, 2012, 17:45:Anyway, throwing in the towel is basically pleading guilty.

I agree with everything you said except this last sentence.

I've be following/watching the Tour since 1986 after the 1985 LeMond/Hinault show. Did Armstrong dope? I'd really like to think he didn't, but he probably did. However, if he did at least he was smart enough to never get caught -- which considering the number of cyclists who have been caught and the number of times he was tested is quite the feat.

Few people realize how "insane" drug testing in cycling is. They can test you at any time, even out of competition. You have to let the cycling/drug authorities know where you are at all times, so they can show up at your doorstep and ask for a urine sample if they want to. A Danish rider was kicked out of the Tour when it was discovered he hadn't been where he told cyclist authorities he was going to be -- allowing him to miss an unscheduled drug test. Or the extremely low levels they test to.

I understand why anyone would think giving in is admitting guilt, but how many years does he have to fight?

Worse, as others have said, stripping Armstrong of his Tour titles is meaningless. Several of the second place finishers have already admitted doping. While there might have been a few cyclists not doping, I guarantee none of them finished in the top 20 in the Tour in the last 20 years. So, what does going after Armstrong, a retired cyclist, accomplish? Not much.

jdreyer wrote on Aug 24, 2012, 17:23:They still sell unenameled cast iron pans. It's all I cook in, except for the occasional stainless steel pot. If properly cared for, they really do last a lifetime or longer.

I am a huge fan of Lodge pans, and own three of them. I was referring to my belief that Le Creuset no longer makes plain cast iron anymore... even the ones with black cooking surfaces are enameled.

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, I know what you mean about your project tho. I bought a rusty old iron dutch oven from Goodwill a while back and brought it back to life.

Other great things about cast iron for the uninitiated: stuff stays hot long after you kill the heat, no strange chemicals make it into your food, and they've got great heat distribution. Easy to clean too, just wash with hot water and dry.

"The worst of it all is i used to ENJOY getting excited for big titles like this, but these publishers just keep ruining my love for this wonderful hobby with their endless fuckery." - Sempai

Stanly Manly wrote on Aug 24, 2012, 16:51:Wow, none of the other reports had that information, just the petty theft stuff. I still just don't know... that charge was from 1988. Not trying to downplay it, just saying I really doubt he presented himself as a dangerous thug.

I could be way off base here, but for some reason I just get the gut feeling this guy wasn't about to put up any struggle, and LL just went apeshit on him. I guess we'll see, although some other preliminary reports say that no assault charges are being brought against LL.

Oh, and as for the alarm, aren't most home alarms silent? They just send a message to the security company?

I'd think it odd that he not have some actual security 24/7... And you are right that the injuries are pretty one-sided.

It's easy to play armchair general, but when you're in your house with your children in that situation faced with an intruder, I'm not going to second guess LL. I'm going to assume he took the measures he felt necessary to protect his family. Even if someone is acting submissive, situations can reverse in a heartbeat.

Solution to the problem: don't break into someone's home.

"The worst of it all is i used to ENJOY getting excited for big titles like this, but these publishers just keep ruining my love for this wonderful hobby with their endless fuckery." - Sempai

Stanly Manly wrote on Aug 24, 2012, 16:51:Wow, none of the other reports had that information, just the petty theft stuff. I still just don't know... that charge was from 1988. Not trying to downplay it, just saying I really doubt he presented himself as a dangerous thug.

I could be way off base here, but for some reason I just get the gut feeling this guy wasn't about to put up any struggle, and LL just went apeshit on him. I guess we'll see, although some other preliminary reports say that no assault charges are being brought against LL.

Oh, and as for the alarm, aren't most home alarms silent? They just send a message to the security company?

I'd think it odd that he not have some actual security 24/7... And you are right that the injuries are pretty one-sided.

The Half Elf wrote on Aug 24, 2012, 18:17:I have a question, can a guild have different races in them? Anyway what server and race are ya going Cutter? I think I'm gonna follow ya if ya don't mind a tag along tonight.

Tarnished Coast will be the server for some of us - but people from other servers can guild up too. And yeah, it's open to all races/classes.

I'm going ranger for my main and I'll probably be going elf as I've already done all the norn stuff so far.

Once everyone gets their mains - and names in particular - locked down just post it in the GW2 thread.

"We choose the right to be who we are. We know the difference between the reality of freedom and the illusion of freedom."

I don't know, he's passed pretty much every test they threw at him while teammates who accused him of doing the same things they did have failed. After more than a decade of fighting the allegations wouldn't you tire of it too? The burden of it would be overwhelming socially, mentally and even financially. I would have given up long before hand and just decided to move on with my life. People say the timing is questionable but the arbitration process seems like it would have been one sided given how badly USADA wants him and the motivations of his teammates are dubious at best. I just can't believe it without physical evidence, he should have that right like the rest of us.

Anyways they need a statute of limitations on this silly stuff, I swear they'll be exhuming Michael Phelps in 80 years to test him for space drugs or something. After like 5 years I just don't care anymore and it tarnishes my memory of the events and the sport to a lesser extent. Fucking Jose Canseco ruining my childhood

I can understand where you're coming from, though as someone who's watched the Tour for 20+ years (mostly for the scenery, but it's fun tension as well), trust me when I say that the speeds at which they are going now are no longer humanly possible. Not sustained for 17 days, over mountains, etc. The entire field is on dope. They HAVE to be, otherwise they wouldn't be able to keep up.

To address the sentence I bolded, however: There IS a statute of limitations, and Armstrong had already passed it. But then he decided to come back and cycle one more Tour, which reset the counter, and allowed the USADA one more go at him, basically.

I have no doubt that Lance Armstrong was guilty of doping, same as I have no doubt that Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome doped in the past Tour. I think a more meaningful question is: Did it give him an unfair advantage? And because everyone dopes, I don't think it did.

jdreyer wrote on Aug 24, 2012, 17:23:They still sell unenameled cast iron pans. It's all I cook in, except for the occasional stainless steel pot. If properly cared for, they really do last a lifetime or longer.

I am a huge fan of Lodge pans, and own three of them. I was referring to my belief that Le Creuset no longer makes plain cast iron anymore... even the ones with black cooking surfaces are enameled.

Lots of 56 year old men are in shape these days (though his injuries indicate he wasn't). I'm sure that more than a few may have mental or substance abuse problems that can make them dangerous too. Hell, all joking aside, I wouldn't want to run into a 72-year old Chuck Norris during a break-in...

Wow, none of the other reports had that information, just the petty theft stuff. I still just don't know... that charge was from 1988. Not trying to downplay it, just saying I really doubt he presented himself as a dangerous thug.

I could be way off base here, but for some reason I just get the gut feeling this guy wasn't about to put up any struggle, and LL just went apeshit on him. I guess we'll see, although some other preliminary reports say that no assault charges are being brought against LL.

Oh, and as for the alarm, aren't most home alarms silent? They just send a message to the security company?

Stanly Manly wrote on Aug 24, 2012, 14:44:The intruder is a convicted petty thief, and certainly deserves to be punished for his crime, but I just get the feeling that the intruder is the victim of aggravated assault in this case. I sincerely doubt he tried to do anything other than give up or run away once confronted.

Lots of 56 year old men are in shape these days (though his injuries indicate he wasn't). I'm sure that more than a few may have mental or substance abuse problems that can make them dangerous too. Hell, all joking aside, I wouldn't want to run into a 72-year old Chuck Norris during a break-in...